1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic package having a folded, flexible substrate, and to a method of constructing such an electronic package.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Integrated circuits are usually manufactured on semiconductor wafers that are subsequently singulated into individual dies. Such a die may be extremely thin, often less than 100 microns, and is subsequently mounted to a package substrate for purposes of structural integrity. The package substrate also has conductors in the form of traces thereon, metal lines therein, and/or vias therein to provide electric interconnection to other devices, often other integrated circuits or other dies.
In order to save space in x and y, it is often required to stack more than one die on top of one another in a z-direction, with the integrated circuits of the dies interconnected with one another. Two dies can, for example, be mounted to a flexible package substrate, and the flexible package substrate be folded into positions such that the dies are above one another.
A package substrate of the aforementioned kind is usually uniformly flexible across its width. When one portion of the package substrate is folded over another portion of the package substrate, a fold region may be created at an undesired, even arbitrary area of the package substrate. Folding of the substrate at undesired areas may cause damage to certain components of the substrate. Bending at arbitrary locations may cause inconsistencies in bending from one assembly to the next, which may result in incorrect downstream packaging. Uncontrolled folding may also result in an undesired form factor of the final electronic package.